Spanish F-18 jet fighter, seen through plane window, escorts an Easyjet flight heading from London to the Spanish holiday island of Menorca, after a hoax bomb threat by an 18-year-old British passenger, July 3, 2022. Marcus Torr/via REUTERS

EasyJet flight EZY8303, which left London Gatwick airport at 1 p.m., landed safely at Menorca airport in the Balearic Islands around half an hour late, just before 5 p.m., and was escorted to a security area.




MADRID, July 4 (Reuters) - An Easyjet flight heading from London to the Spanish holiday island of Menorca on Sunday was escorted to its destination by a Spanish fighter jet after a British teenager onboard made a bomb threat on social media, police said on Monday.The 18-year-old, who was travelling with five friends, spent the night in jail and is awaiting a court hearing, said a spokesman for Spain's Civil Guard police.Footage of the incident showed an F-18 jet flying close to the distinctive orange wingtips of the commercial airline's A-319 aircraft, which typically carries between 120 and 150 passengers.The fighter jet is seen waggling its wings, a gesture known in aviation as indicating the other pilot should follow him, while worried passengers can be heard discussing what is happening, with one woman asking: "Why is it doing that, is it just showing off?"Military planes usually intercept civilian aircraft when ground air traffic control lose contact with them or there is a perceived threat to the aircraft or passengers either because of a bomb warning, suspicious object or feared terrorist activity.



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